| In the recent recession, many public relations agencies | | | | to give you more targeted returns on your investment. |
| had a hard time. Many companies focused their | | | | 2. Traditional PR isn't easily adaptable to the online |
| marketing budgets on measurable, online channels - | | | | environment. Take press releases. If you buy a press |
| and some ditched traditional PR altogether. | | | | release from a traditional agency, and then you want |
| So why did the PR world have such a problem? Was | | | | to put it online, you will probably need to get it |
| it because online marketing is cheaper? Or | | | | optimised. A release written by an online copywriter is |
| measurable? Or simply because it has begun to come | | | | optimised from the outset, and can also be sent out to |
| of age? | | | | offline media. |
| As an online copywriter, I've benefited from projects | | | | 3. It costs a lot to reach even a small audience with |
| that would once have been given to a PR agency. I've | | | | traditional PR. A PR agency can reach only a limited |
| written optimised press releases that can be published | | | | audience using traditional media. Online marketing |
| online and still circulated traditionally. I've written news | | | | opens up a global market - and it's accessible by |
| stories that would once have been part of a printed | | | | individuals as much as it is by organisations. |
| corporate newsletter. And I've written online white | | | | 4. In the online world, it's talent and knowledge - not |
| papers that would once have been proudly circulated | | | | contacts - that win results. To get an effective online |
| as hard copy reports. | | | | marketing campaign off the ground, you don't need a |
| I also work closely with online marketing agencies that | | | | little black book stuffed with the phone numbers of |
| are benefiting from investment in SEO and PPC | | | | minor celebrities. PR firms are no longer the |
| campaigns - money that would previously have funded | | | | gatekeepers to good publicity. |
| traditional advertising campaigns. For them, business is | | | | 5. Business is more interested in results than in |
| booming. | | | | reflected glory. If the expensive photo opportunity |
| This step change has made me wonder why there's a | | | | doesn't bring in as much business as a targeted SEO |
| drift - and in some cases, stampede - away from | | | | campaign, then businesses will opt for the latter. |
| traditional PR to online services like SEO copywriting. | | | | And, in that last point, is the rub. Thanks to the |
| The five main reasons I've identified are these: | | | | recession, businesses have got better at distinguishing |
| | | | between effectiveness and luxury - and many |
| 1. It's difficult to measure the effect of traditional PR. | | | | traditional PR techniques fall into the last category. The |
| Clients are fed up with not knowing exactly what their | | | | PR agencies that survive will the ones that started to |
| money is buying them. Where it's hard to quantify the | | | | embrace the new world a while back - the others will |
| ROI on a traditional public relations campaign, online | | | | face expert competition on too many fronts. I, for one, |
| marketing is instantly measurable - and can be refined | | | | think that has to be a good thing. |